PASTOR'S
ARTICLE...
Jack Willoughby, Pastor
JWilloughby@calallenbaptist.org
Mission
Fires
When
I first met Milford Howell he was already a retired SBC missionary from
Nigeria. He had served as a
church planter for over 40 years. He
said they landed at the airport and were taken by small boat to one of the
most remote areas of Nigeria, unloaded, and left behind.
He said it was ‘real’ missions.
He and his wife Eleanor, a nurse, founded a church and a hospital
– meeting both the physical and spiritual needs of the people.
I
asked Milford to tell me his call to foreign missions.
He said that his call came at one of the most difficult times of
his life. He grew up in Rule,
Texas, a small West Texas farming community.
It was the year that his father died.
Milford was about 14 years old.
However, it was on the heels of this most challenging time that his
fire for missions was lit.
It
happened in December during the annual appeal for the Lottie Moon
Christmas offering at FBC Rule. This
was a few months after his father’s death and he knew that his family
had nothing financially to offer. It
had been one of the leanest months his family had ever faced.
But that’s when it happened!
As the offering plate was passed, he watched his mother remove her
wedding ring, place it in a special Christmas Offering envelope, and
commit it to the Lord’s use.
His
mother’s sacrifice so touched his life that God used it to open the door
of missions to his heart. Not
too long after, he surrendered his life to serve as a missionary to
Nigeria. The rest is history.
Take
a moment and pray about what your financial contribution will be to
support Foreign Missions work. Not
only will it touch the lives of untold others in distant lands, but who
knows but that it could be the key to lighting the fires of missions in
your own home.
Humbly,
Pastor
Jack
